Battlefield 1 Revealed in Launch Trailer

[Hawki]

Consider me well and truly aboard the hype train.

THAT'S the hype train?

...bloody hell, I should get hyped more often. 0_0

 

[Fulbert]

The tonal dissonance is strong with this one. A serious question though, for anyone who has reputable knowledge, how many, if any (I luv commas) African men distinguished themselves during the "great war" and in what theater?

The French did recruit troops from their African colonies and they did see action against the Germans on the Western Front. The Germans themselves largely used African colonial troops for General Paul von Lettow-Vorbek's campaign of causing a nuisance for the British in East Africa that lasted the entire war. If you're talking African-American, then you'd have a much harder time finding one, the only one I can think of is a pilot that flew with the Lafayette Escadrille, as squadron made up of Americans that flew for the French Air Force before the USA officially entered the war in 1917.

Ah, some good information in there. I am actually surprised by das Germans using African soldiers back then, it just never crossed my mind. Were they recruited via normal means, paid, treated respectfully, etc?

Maybe that's a reference to Jaroslav Hasek's Good Soldier Svejk novel? There was a passage in it about a Czech black guy who might have been drafted to serve in the Austrian-Hungarian army. I'll quote this passage, it's quite funny:

"'This cross-breeding,' observed ?vejk, 'is a very interesting matter altogether. In Prague there is a negro waiter called Kristi?n, whose father was an Abyssinian king and who had himself exhibited in a circus at ?tvanice in Prague. A schoolmistress who used to write verses in Lada about shepherds and a forest brook went with him to a hotel and fornicated with him, as it says in the Holy Scripture, and she was awfully surprised when she gave birth to a little boy who was completely white. All right, but after a fortnight the little boy began to get brown. He got browner and browner and then after a month he began to get black. Within half a year he was as black as his grandfather, the Abyssinian king. She went with him to the clinic for skin diseases in the hope that they'd be able to bleach him somehow, but there they told her that it was a real black ****** skin and there wras nothing to be done. This drove her off her head; she began to write to the magazines for advice on what to do against niggers, and they took her away to Kateřinky (a mental clinic in Prague) and put the little ****** boy in an orphanage, where they had an awful lot of fun with him. Then he learned to be a waiter and went dancing in night clubs. Today there are Czech mulattoes who have been successfully bred from him and are not as coloured as he was. A medico who used to go to The Chalice (a pub in Prague) once told us that it's not quite as simple as all that. A half-breed like that brings half-breeds into the world again and they can't be distinguished from white people. But suddenly in a later generation a negro turns up. Imagine the catastrophe! You might get married to a young lady. The filly is quite white and suddenly she gives birth to a negro baby. And if before her ninth month she went without you to the Variety Theatre to watch wrestling where a negro was performing, I think the whole thing would give you something to think about.'

'The case of your negro, Kristi?n,' said the volunteer, 'has to be looked at from a war point of view too. Let's suppose they called that negro up. He's from Prague and so he comes under the 28th regiment. But you've heard how the 28th regiment went over to the Russians. How surprised the Russians would be if they found they had taken the negro Kristi?n prisoner. The Russian newspapers would certainly write that Austria was driving into the war the colonial troops she hasn't got and was already drawing on her ****** reserves.'"

 

[Cowabungaa]

You know why I'm excited?

No UAV bullshit. No thermal sight nonsense. No assault rifle spam. The list goes on. So hopefully this'll feel very differently in terms of gameplay compared to the previous few Battlefield games.

So yeah I'm actually kind of excited. As long as they treat the singleplayer with respect and don't turn it into a blockbuster. Then again that really shouldn't happen with any war.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

I am not a fan. I know it's only fiction, but The Great War is a sticking point for me, and the trailer's glorification of "epic" battles makes me really uncomfortable on a moral standpoint. By all means, make your game, but I really don't feel comfortable with any of this.

Here is the thing I realized about war in general and how the human experiance reflects it.

Sometimes war can feel, EPIC, WITH BATTLES FOUGHT WITH GLORIOUS VALOR:


But other times war can be terrible, ugly, depressing, and sorrowful:

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Sometimes war can feel, EPIC, WITH BATTLES FOUGHT WITH GLORIOUS VALOR:

Speaking of Lawrence of Arabia, he's apparently in the game.

At least, there is Multiplayer DLC themed after him.

 

[Dragonlayer]

The infuriatingly long overlooked First World War taking centre stage?

A significant variety of enviroments, showing the development team understand that the Great War did not take place entirely in Flanders?

Terrifying, awesome gas-masked German soldiers bludgeoning everyone to death with trench-clubs and entrenching tools?

Fucking. Sold.

 

[DeepReaver]

I have wanted a WW1 FPS for a long long time. Why did it have to be EA and Battlefield...

 

[Bob_McMillan]

I have wanted a WW1 FPS for a long long time. Why did it have to be EA and Battlefield...

There's always Verdun.

 

[Bobular]

Can the first level of the campaign be trying to assassinate the Archduke? I do actually think that could be a good intro level, getting to fire the shot that started the whole thing, the starter pistol for The Great War.

 

[GonvilleBromhead]

The tonal dissonance is strong with this one. A serious question though, for anyone who has reputable knowledge, how many, if any (I luv commas) African men distinguished themselves during the "great war" and in what theater?

The French did recruit troops from their African colonies and they did see action against the Germans on the Western Front. The Germans themselves largely used African colonial troops for General Paul von Lettow-Vorbek's campaign of causing a nuisance for the British in East Africa that lasted the entire war. If you're talking African-American, then you'd have a much harder time finding one, the only one I can think of is a pilot that flew with the Lafayette Escadrille, as squadron made up of Americans that flew for the French Air Force before the USA officially entered the war in 1917.

Ah, some good information in there. I am actually surprised by das Germans using African soldiers back then, it just never crossed my mind. Were they recruited via normal means, paid, treated respectfully, etc?

From my understanding the Germans treated the soldiers they recruited relatively well eg. they were paid and didn't get horribly abused, the local civilians that they press ganged into running their logistics train in East Africa (carrying the army's supplies around) on the other hand, not so much, they weren't paid and suffered pretty heavy casualties due to exhaustion and not getting enough food and water.

The uniform he is wearing is British; however, Black British subjects who resided in the UK did volunteer and were conscripted into the British Army, and fought alongside their white compatriots, and there were even a few non-white officers in the British Army (Walter Tull being the most famous, but there was also Hardit Malik, and a few others). This excludes those who were in "Colonial" Armies, so to speak - the Indian Army, and black West Indian's (though the latter weren't used as infantry - more behind the lines stuff), and the variety of labour corps - Chinese, Egyptian, Indian

 

[sonicneedslovetoo]

They actually named it "Battlefield 1" they ACTUALLY NAMED IT THAT? Excuse me I need to go apply to EA as a naming guy because the pile of moldy rocks and used kleenex they currently have employed in that department need to be replaced.

 

[Li Mu]

The Russian campaign needs to feature the Russians killing Germans, getting bored of killing Germans, going home and then killing some Russians.

 

[WouldYouKindly]

So are they going to develop a melee combat system to pair with it? There seems to be a bit of a focus on the face wrecking in the video.

Oh, and they should definitely have a brain and put a bit of an anti-war message in it. God, WWI was a fucking stupid big war.

 

[MrCalavera_v1legacy]

A Battlefield game set in WWI? Awesome!
A BATTLEFIELD game set in WWI? Oh crap...

Also about the African(-american?) man statuette and cover art. I'm not entirely sure what nation he's supposed to represent. Sure almost every European power had men from across their empires come over to fight their battles for them. Heck, even Belgium did. He seems to be wearing American puttees though. So he might be a bit like Freddy from "Valiant Hearts: The Great War"; just some random american volunteer in some army way before the US entered the war, months before it ends.

It seems that he's a member of the american "Harlem Hellfighters" regiment.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/369th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)
Huh, B1 is even mentioned on the page now.

TBF though, cover looks pretty weak. Not only there's this overplayed grey+orange theme, that doesn't really click with the period, but the dude looks more like a fashion model advertising new WWI inspired collection. Where's the dirt, where's the grit so inherent to the trenches?

 

[SupahEwok]

I'm curious as to what exactly the campaign will be about. If the African American man on the cover is the player's only avatar, then the game'll be pretty limited. It's my understanding that America entered rather late in the war, and only really fought in France to counter the German offensive (plus navy stuff, but that's not going to be included in a shooter). Certainly that was where the Harlem Hellfighters fought.

Lots of opportunity in the multiplayer maps, though.

 

[Fulbert]

Lets see whether the imperialists will forget the Balkan states in WW1. They managed to get the POC in, that is great, but... forgetting *US* would be downright moronic.

Sure will. Don't you know the WWI was a war of Britain and France vs Germany with most battles fought in Belgium and then the Americans came in and saved the day? Also there was something about that murder in Austria-Hungary that triggered the war so that could be shown in the campaign opening, but Austria-Hungary never contributed in any meaningful way so it's not worth mentioning in this WWI game otherwise. Neither are Russia or Turkey (though Gallipoli could be mentioned as Anglo-Saxons died there) or Balkan states altogether.

Oh, and I bet they won't have a German campaign either, cuz who would want to play those wacky Nazis?

 

[GonvilleBromhead]

It seems that he's a member of the american "Harlem Hellfighters" regiment.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/369th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)
Huh, B1 is even mentioned on the page now.

If he's meant to be a Harlem Hellfighter, they have screwed up pretty badly - as a WWI re-enactor, I can categorically state that is most definitely a British uniform he is wearing, along with British equipment (ignoring the presumably captured German Mauser).

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Lets see whether the imperialists will forget the Balkan states in WW1. They managed to get the POC in, that is great, but... forgetting *US* would be downright moronic.

Sure will. Don't you know the WWI was a war of Britain and France vs Germany with most battles fought in Belgium and then the Americans came in and saved the day? Also there was something about that murder in Austria-Hungary that triggered the war so that could be shown in the campaign opening, but Austria-Hungary never contributed in any meaningful way so it's not worth mentioning in this WWI game otherwise. Neither are Russia or Turkey (though Gallipoli could be mentioned as Anglo-Saxons died there) or Balkan states altogether.

Oh, and I bet they won't have a German campaign either, cuz who would want to play those wacky Nazis?

Honestly... this is what I expect from them.

Would be dissapointed if they go down that route.

Because according to Western logic, a few people of color >>>>> all slavic nation, the Balkans, the rest of the Central Powers and Russia.

This is not even a joke. That is how I believe they think these days

Who cares about Serbia? They were defeated in 1915 and the Hellfighters weren't even in the Balkans. How do you expect to market this game to North American markets if the Americans aren't the focus?

 

[Bedinsis]

Wait what? They're actually going to cover WW1? In a AAA game?

All right! Let's get this show on the floor!

That was my initial reaction. More sober/collected thoughts followed.

I wonder how they'll be able to make the game accurate to reality. The objection against WW1 games have always been that the equipment would not translate well to the most popular forms of gameplay, and Battlefield is very much a mass appeal series. I saw airplanes, Zeppelins, early tanks and horses in the trailer, so maybe the focus is more on varying the equipment used. That would also fit historically, since WW1 was the war that made people realize that the old form of warfare with number of people vs. number of people would had to replaced due to modern equipment.

Or do something akin to starting a mission with your brother-in-arms expressing satisfaction over actually seeing some action after being struck in a trench for "so and so long", thereby acknowledging that the frontlines were rather immobile while still portraying the most exciting parts.

The title is... well, at first I thought it was stupid, but then I thought that "it is about WW1, hence: 1" made sense, and I didn't know what else to call it. Then it struck me: "Battlefield 1916". Acknowledges what year it took place while also hinting of the year of the title's release. So I'm back on calling the 1 stupid.

I hope the Armenian Genocide will be covered, since it's a tragedy not acknowledged by some to this day and portraying it might actually do some good.

I have heard that the campaigns of Battlefield games have bad stories, the multiplayer being their true strength, so I should probably not get to hopeful about this game. Not that I will play it either way, since I get simulation sick from FPS's.

 

[Joccaren]

Huh. Well, that's a somewhat difficult time period to build a Battlefield game around, at least if they're staying vaguely close to the real thing (which I'm not convinced they'll do from what I've seen in the trailer). But at least it's a fairly fresh ground. It'll at least be interesting to see what they can come up with. I haven't played any BF games since 3, so I might be tempted to buy one again, if it actually looks and feels like a new game.

Nailed it.

Honestly, I'm not too concerned with them keeping a sombre tone and everything for the game. Its a game, based around action, the multiplayer at the very least is going to focus on the action side of it. Who knows with the campaign. If they miss it in the campaign, well, complain, but I'll likely buy it just to support the idea of WWI games in general.
Gameplay you really can't have the same as normal Battlefield though. It might not be accurate WWI, but it really just can't be normal battlefield either. Tanks should end up quite different, and potentially less potent [Though also with potentially fewer real counters], there's not going to be a ton of other viable vehicles to use, biplanes just can't control like a Jet Fighter if you want any semblence of 'feel' to not create huge dissonance. It'll also focus air more on guns, less on missiles, so it'll be easier to dodge and harder to kill.
Overall, it seems interesting and it could end up a great game. Campaign also gives them at least a shot at not making Generic Modern Military Shooter 999999, and maybe levelling some criticisms at the fact the war occurred at all, or the actions taken by some in that war. Kind of hard to do that in Modern war where you're either making up the war, or are basing it in the Middle East, a pretty touchy subject for the time period. I don't believe they will though, and honestly if they try to glorify the war I'm hoping a lot of people shoot criticism at it for just being stupid and out of touch with reality, but I guess we'll see.